For many businesses, there is a need to store inventory in a manner that protects it, organizes it, and facilitates convenient removal and restocking. Many businesses store their inventory on pallets that are further organized in pallet racks.
Pallets are flat transport structures that support goods when they are being transported or stored. Such transport and subsequent storage of the pallets is typically accomplished using a forklift, pallet jack, front loader, or other jacking device. A pallet is the structural foundation of a unit load which improves handling and storage efficiencies. Goods or shipping containers are often placed on a pallet and secured with strapping, stretch wrap or shrink wrap before being transported. While most pallets are wooden, pallets can also be made of plastic, metal, and paper.
Pallet racks are a material handling storage aid system designed to store materials on a pallet. While there are many varieties of pallet racking, essentially all types of pallet racks allow for the storage of palletized materials in horizontal rows with multiple levels. Often, the pallet racks have individual units defined by at least two vertical uprights and one or more horizontal beams. Typically, the pallet racking contains at least two upright vertical supports or frames that are connected by at least two horizontal beams that span the distance between the upright frames. The upright frames may contain diagonal bracing and/or horizontal bracing that is usually welded between two upright columns to form the upright frame. Some pallet racking also contains wire decking, which is commonly used as a safety measure to prevent pallets or the products stored on them from falling through the rack structure.
An example of an adjustable rack system having a first vertical upright unit and a second vertical upright unit, each of the first and second vertical upright units having two spaced apart columns with a plurality of teardrop shaped slots for receiving a beam that spans a longitudinal distance between the first and second vertical uprights is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,352,164 for a “Storage Rack Having Locking Beam-To-Column Connection”, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. Other examples of a pallet rack is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,760,682 for a “Tubular Rack Beam and Method of Making Same”, U.S. Pat. No. 4,074,812 for a “Pallet Rack”, U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,613 for a “Roll-Through Storage Rack, a Girder and a Retaining Plate Therefor”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,801,026 for a “Device in a Storage Rack”; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,625,372 issued Dec. 7, 1971 for a “Pallet Rack”, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Many prior patents disclose a latching or locking device at beam-to-column connections in storage racks. One example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,624,045 and 5,713,367, in which the fasteners are described as connecting pins and the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. Other examples, which employ spring-biased pins, are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,330,583, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,074,814, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, and in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,938,367 and 6,203,234, 6,155,441, 6,230,910, and 6,352,164, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
When not being transported, pallets loaded with goods are typically placed and stacked on shelving units or pallet racks that can hold the weight of many fully loaded pallets. Organizing the goods in such a manner enables a business to make more efficient use of warehouse space, thus save money spent on storing their inventory.
Generally, since up to three or four or more pallets can be stacked on one another in rapid succession within a single pallet rack unit, a business can save significant time and money not having to unload and organize the goods immediately after transport. Also, pallet racks can be constructed to have two or more pallet rack units in the vertical direction, such that a pallet or stacked pallets may be located quite a distance off of the ground. Further, pallet racks can be constructed to have two or more pallet rack units in the horizontal direction, such that different pallets or stacked pallets with different product can be stored on the same pallet rack system.
Current pallet racks systems do not facilitate the convenient organization, or the removal and restocking of goods, when partial pallets are sold or stocked or otherwise need to be transported. Moreover, many current pallet rack systems are not adequate for allowing customers to browse through or buy individual goods, as the goods are typically contained within wrapping that does not allow for inspection. Further, current pallet rack systems do not provide for efficient removal of goods, as goods located on pallets that are stacked usually require the pallets stacked on top to be removed before access to the desired pallet can be obtained. In other situations, the pallets may be wrapped such that the units on the pallet do not easily fall out during the retrieval of goods using a forklift or the like.
As such, there exists a need in warehouse storage, and in particular pallet rack systems, for more efficient storage of goods that allows easy access for efficient removal of the goods.